Easy read

Welcome to the website of the German Cancer Research Center.

The short word for it is DKFZ.

At the German Cancer Research Center, many researchers are investigating cancer.

Cancer is a dangerous disease.
Research into cancer is important for everyone.
Because cancer can kill people.
Many people in Germany and around the world are diagnosed with cancer.

An explanation of cancer can be found at the bottom of this website.

What is research?

Researchers are looking for new knowledge. To do this, they conduct experiments.
They always want to answer a very specific question.
It can often take many years before they find an answer.

Around 3000 people work at the DKFZ.
Around 1000 of them are researchers.

Their goals are:
Fewer people should develop cancer.
It should be possible to cure cancer better.
Cancer should be found earlier. If cancer is found earlier, the disease can be better cured.

The researchers ask, for example:

• Why does a cell become ill?
• Why does the cell no longer stop dividing?
• Why does the cancer metastasize?
• The immune system is the defense system in our body. Can the immune system also fight off cancer cells?
• Which drugs can prevent cancer cells from dividing?
• Does the same medicine help every cancer patient?
• How can a tumor be detected early?

You also ask:

• How do people stay healthy?
• How can we prevent cancer?

What do the researchers want to achieve?

The researchers at the DKFZ don't just want to find research results.
Their research should also help to cure people with cancer.
Fewer people should develop cancer.
That's why the researchers are working with doctors in many German cities.
They want to carry out joint studies.
This means that they also test new cancer treatments in hospitals, for example, on sick people who want them.

Do you have any questions about cancer?

The German Cancer Research Center also includes the Cancer Information Service.
The Cancer Information Service answers all your questions about cancer.
The telephone number of the Cancer Information Service can be found here.

How do you get cancer?

The disease cancer develops in an organ.
An organ is, for example, the heart or the lungs.
A person has many organs in their body.
Cancer in the lungs is called lung cancer.
Cancer in the bowel is called bowel cancer.

What are cells?

All organs in the body are made up of cells.
Cells are very small.
You cannot see cells with the naked eye.
A cell can divide.
This turns one cell into two identical cells.
This is important for the body.

However, an error can also occur during cell division.
A cell is then different. The error makes the cell sick.
The sick cells divide much faster than the healthy cells.
The sick cells do not stop dividing.
This is why there are more and more sick cells.

The diseased cells are called cancer cells.
When many cancer cells grow in an organ, a tumor develops.
A tumor is a lump of many cancer cells.

Why is cancer dangerous?

A tumor is often malignant.
A malignant tumor damages the body.
It destroys other organs in the body.
A malignant tumor gets bigger and bigger. It often grows quickly.

How does cancer spread in the body?

When a tumor grows, it can form new tumors in other organs.
This is also known as the tumor spreading.
Cancer cells can move.
For example, they move from the lung tumor to other organs.
For example, they move to the brain.
A new malignant tumor then grows in the brain.
This new tumor is called a metastasis.

Metastases are very dangerous

There are tumors in many places in the body.
If a patient has metastases, it is difficult to cure the cancer.
If the patient does not have metastases, it is easier to cure the cancer.

We only use the masculine form in the text.
For example: researchers or patients.
Because it's easier to read.
But it always refers to women and girls too.